“That depends on your behavior,” Ryan replied coldly.
Echo cursed under her breath but then flashed a dazzling smile that was hard to resist. “I’ll be the best servant you’ve ever had, Mr. Ryan.”
Ryan gave a curt, cold grunt in response. He shifted, flipping over with Echo still in his arms, trapping her completely in his embrace.
“Get more rest,” he ordered sternly.
Echo raised an eyebrow at Ryan’s words, meeting his gaze for a moment, only to see that he had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep.
She blinked a couple of times and thought, “Fine, let him sleep.” He was the boss now, and as his servant, she had no choice but to follow orders.
The night passed quickly, and as the morning light streamed through the windows, Echo, facing the sun, was forced to wake up. She stretched lazily.
“Boss, it’s time to change your bandages,” Bill’s voice came from the door, right on time with a knock.
“Come in,” Ryan said in his usual calm tone.
Echo turned to see him sitting at a nearby desk, reading something.
“Boss, your-”
“Come here,” Ryan interrupted without looking up.
Echo rubbed her forehead-he was talking to her.
“You do it,” Ryan’s voice was as indifferent as ever.
Echo glanced at Bill, who was holding gauze, scissors, and medication. He wanted her to handle the bandages.
Bill smiled mischievously at Echo and, without hesitation, handed her the supplies. With an all-too-serious look, he said, “I’ll leave the boss in your capable hands.” Then, he quickly backed away, slipping out of the room with remarkable speed.
Ryan moved to sit on the bed and gave Echo a calm look.
Echo raised an eyebrow and, with a mock-serious tone, said, “Mr. Ryan, I’m an amateur at this. If I hurt you, don’t blame me.” She grinned mischievously as she approached him.
They say what goes around comes around. Just a few days ago, he had been making her life miserable, and now she had the perfect excuse to get a little payback. This was her chance to settle old scores, especially after the way he had scared her half to death recently.
Ryan frowned slightly and said in a low voice, “Hurry up.”
Echo nodded quickly, “Alright, alright, I’m on it,” and walked over faster.
Ryan sat on the bed in his pants, making no move to help himself. Echo rolled her eyes. Typical boss behavior. She set down the tray of supplies and began undressing him to access the wound.
The injury was on his right thigh. As she carefully pulled down Ryan’s pants, she noticed a small patch of blood seeping through the bandage. She chuckled to herself and got to work.
“Sorry, Mr. Ryan, I’m not very skilled,” she said with a grin, pressing her hand right onto the wound. She felt his muscles twitch under her touch but continued apologizing without moving her hand.
“Oh, looks like it’s bleeding. Hang in there, boss.”
“Oops, sorry…”
“My bad, sorry…”
The room was silent except for Echo’s constant stream of apologies. Even the sound of breathing was barely noticeable.
After a while, Echo suddenly looked up, panicking. “What’s going on? How am I supposed to bandage this?”
The wound, which had only been slightly bleeding before, was now gushing blood thanks to her fumbling. No matter what she tried, it kept bleeding, soaking Ryan’s thigh and staining Echo’s hands red.
Ryan looked at her coldly and asked, “Had enough fun?”
Echo’s face immediately flushed with embarrassment. He hadn’t stopped her or said anything earlier, so she thought he might actually believe her “I’m not good at this” act.
But now, it was clear that Ryan had been watching her the whole time. His question left her speechless. Sure, he had made her suffer for a few days, but maybe Ryan really hadn’t done it on purpose.
“I’ll go get Bill,” Echo muttered, biting her lip as she turned to leave.
She only wanted Ryan to feel a bit of the pain she’d endured, nothing more. If he lost too much blood or something happened to him, she’d be done for.
She couldn’t shake how strange it all seemed. She’d been treating her own wounds since she was a kid-not bullet wounds, but injuries nonetheless. A little pressure shouldn’t have caused so much bleeding. She’d never seen a wound like this before, which was why she’d gotten a little rattled.
“Come here.” Ryan’s cold voice cut through the air. Watching her turn around, he said firmly, “If you can’t handle something this simple, what right do you have to be one of my people? Come and take care of it.”
Seeing the resolve in his eyes, Echo gritted her teeth and quickly came back to work on his wound.
“I don’t know how to do this. You’ll have to teach me,” she muttered, feeling completely out of her depth with this strange injury.
“M20 bullets have high penetration. When they hit resistance, they explode, making the wound bigger,” Ryan explained calmly, as if he wasn’t the one bleeding. Looking at Echo as she frantically tried to stop the bleeding, he added, “The external wound is small, but inside, it’s much deeper. Too much pressure will make it worse and cause more bleeding.”
Hearing his calm explanation, Echo bit her lip even harder and quickly adjusted her approach, tending to the wound with more care.
In a few moments, the bleeding finally stopped.
Echo, her hands covered in blood, finished bandaging him up and stood.
“Sorry, Mr. Ryan,” she said.
Ryan gave her a cool glance and said, “This cancels out your credit for this time.”
Echo’s face darkened as she watched him stand up. No wonder he hadn’t stopped her when she was messing with his wound.
With Ryan’s personality, if he’d really been angry, he would’ve either thrown her out or beaten her up.
But now it all made sense-he’d let her go on just to dock her credit.
That was harsh. This was worse than getting thrown out or hit.
Ryan had found her weakness.
She pouted, “Mr. Ryan, how could you do this? You promised.”
“I know what I promised you, but don’t expect anything else,” Ryan said coldly.
He had been planning to give her a reward, considering she really had helped save his life this time. He wasn’t the type to ignore his people’s contributions.
The fair was fair-rewards and punishments alike. That’s why he’d asked her earlier.
But now, seeing her try to play games with him, he wasn’t going to go easy.
Echo groaned inwardly, regretting it all. She could’ve gotten Ryan to promise not to hurt Skye, and maybe even earned another reward. Now, she’d blown it. If she had known he was going to be this generous, she would’ve held back.
“Get me another pair,” Ryan said, frowning as he glanced at the bloodstains on his underwear.
Echo raised an eyebrow and was about to grab one when she saw him frown again and head straight for the bathroom.
“You can’t take a bath,” Echo called out, quickly grabbing a fresh pair of underwear and rushing after him.
She knew all too well that wounds shouldn’t get wet-Ryan hadn’t let her bathe when she was injured.
Standing by the edge of the bath, Ryan glanced at Echo, who had followed him in, and then casually leaned against the marble steps beside the tub.
“You wash me,” he said coolly.